2015, A YEAR TO CELEBRATE YOUR HARVEST

By
Ike McDonald, Ph.D.

For many whom God has given the opportunity to step into the year 2015, I feel led by the Spirit of God Almighty to declare unto you that you have entered your season of harvest, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Noah made a lavish sacrifice to God at the end of the flood, God smelt the pleasing aroma from the burnt offering and made an ageless  promise that forces of nature would always act with predictable harmony: “While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22).

For everyone who has been in the habit of sowing good seed, your harvest will never elude you, by the authority of the word of God. But please be advised that the concept of seed time and harvest is beyond money. It addresses almost every issue of life, therefore think beyond money or material things when you think harvest. For example, the Shunammite woman sowed the seed of hospitality and kindness and received the son she never had. Although she did not ask for a son, God revealed to His servant the prophet that she really needed a son. 2 Kings 4:8-37 gives a clear account of this incident:

8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. 9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”

11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” 14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

Please note that there are some fundamental principles that must be understood and applied for anybody to experience any kind of harvest. These principles are taught in scripture, and they include the following:

1.               Harvest is a process that involves several steps; it does not just happen. See Mark 4:26-29.

2.               Every harvest is in its seed (Genesis 1:11-12).

3.               The frequency of your harvest is determined by how often you sow your seed (Luke 6:38; 2   Corinthians 9:6-8).

4.               To experience harvest, you must first sow the appropriate seed for the harvest you’re expecting (John 12:24).

The most appropriate seed that would attract the mind-blowing harvest that God has planned for you to celebrate this year is sowing into the lives of the poor and needy; those who may not be in a position to pay you back, and doing it not to score cheap recognition by men. Proverbs 19: 17 declares, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done”. Again, Proverbs 28:27 states, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses”. Moreover, “……when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3″But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:3).

From the above scripture references, it becomes a matter of choice what kind of harvest you desire to celebrate this year. As you consider sowing into the lives of the poor and needy, I pray that the God of harvest would fulfill His word in your life and cause you to celebrate your harvest, in Jesus name.

Pastor, Resurrection Power Assembly Church (An arm of TLT-The Living Temple Ministries, Inc.)